NEW ORLEANS – The Loyola Wolf Pack volleyball team showed their grit Tuesday night in The Den, fighting out of a 2-0 hole in their match against William Carey. The Crusaders, however, were able to hold on to win the fifth set and claim the Southern States Athletic Conference matchup 3-2 (25-19, 25-20, 22-25, 19-25, 15-12). The loss moves Loyola to 11-7 overall and 4-2 in league play. 
 

After playing 18 matches in the first month of the season, the Wolf Pack is off until next Tuesday when they host Xavier in The Den at 6 p.m.
 

William Carey was able to take a big lead on the Wolf Pack in the first set, 17-7, but the Wolf Pack wouldn't go down quietly. With the score 20-10, Loyola cut the lead to 20-15 to prompt a William Carey timeout. It wasn't enough, though, as Carey took a 1-0 lead in the match with a 25-19 win. 
 

The second set featured back-and-forth play to start, as Loyola took a 5-2 lead thanks to attacks by Preslie Boswell and Amaya Bazemore. The Crusaders were able to tie the match three points later but kills from Emily Sheperis and Simone Tyson kept the game tied, 8-8. WCU, however, took the lead shortly after that and never relinquished it. A kill by Sheperis and an attack error by the Crusaders cut the score to 16-15, but Carey pushed ahead once again to take a 2-0 lead in the match. 
 

The third set was the closest of the match, as neither team was able to hold a lead by more than three through the first 41 points until Loyola took a 22-19 advantage. Tyson, Bazemore and Boswell all collected kills in the beginning, and Simone Moreau served an ace to keep it tied, 6-6. Sheperis and Alicia Simmons both found the floor on attacks shortly after, and another Simmons kill brought the game to 13-13. With Loyola leading 20-19, Cooper, Sheperis and Simmons put the Pack in position to claim their first set, and two WCU errors finally put Loyola on the board. 
 

Two Bazemore attacks allowed Loyola to jump up 4-1 early in the fourth set, then three Boswell kills made it a 7-5 lead. Cooper notched three kills of her own right after that, then she served an ace to push the score to 14-7. Bazemore continued the dominant play, 18-10, as Loyola easily tied the match 2-2 with two kills each by Cooper and Bazemore and an ace by Gracie Bailey. 
 

Loyola started the fifth set with a 3-1 lead after two errors by WCU and a kill by Tyson, but William Carey took the 5-4 lead moments later. With the Crusaders leading 8-4, Bazemore and Sheperis attacks kept the Pack in it, 9-7, and another kill by Cooper made it an 11-9 deficit. Carey, however, won four of the final seven points to claim the match. 

Wolf Pack Head Coach Jesse Zabal

"That was a really tough one. Our team absolutely put up a good fight, Carey just had a few better moments than we did in the fifth set. We did a really great job defensively with shutting down some of Carey's more efficient hitters, and when our serve receive was on point, we were able to make some really great plays on offense. All of our hitters had some great moments, and Mo (Simone Moreau) was so good in the backcourt. Carey is a strong, well-coached team and we'll have another shot at them next month. We know it'll be just as tough of a battle."

Pack Facts

• Rebecca LaCour had a career high in assists with 30. She also had eight digs. Gracie Bailey finished with 19 assists. 

• Three different players were in double figures for digs, including Simone Moreau, who went for 31 digs in the match. Her career high of 32 also came against William Carey at the SSAC Championship last year.

• Brittany Cooper had her highest kill total of the season, with 13 kills and a .239 hitting percentage. She also had 11 digs, marking her first double-double of the year.

• Amaya Bazemore was Loyola's points leader, putting up 14 total kills, plus four blocks. 

• Preslie Boswell had 10 kills, her first time with double-digit kills this season. Her last time with at least 10 was also against Carey last season. 

• Emily Sheperis and Simone Tyson each had seven kills. Tyson finished second on the team with 18 digs. 

• Four of the last five matchups with William Carey have gone the full five sets. The teams have each won two of those four matches. 

You can keep up with the Pack by following Wolf Pack Athletics on Facebook at Facebook.com/LoyolaWolfPack, Twitter and Instagram @LoyolaWolfPack, and by checking out our website at LoyolaWolfPack.com.